296 STIFF AS AN ICE-CHISEL. 



longer, you bet, an' shortly hed my claws on Plumcentre 

 agin. 



" I follered the b'ar's track, which wur as plain as 

 Pike's Peak, an' overtook the varmint at the bottom o' 

 a deep gulch. He hedn't seed me as yit, so I clomb the 

 bluff to a ledge thirty foot over the bottom, an' took a 

 rest off a rock at Ephraim's brain-box. I reckon that 

 b'ar gev a jump. He wa'n't throwed though. He 

 spotted me at once, an' kem torst the bluff, but cudn't 

 climb nohow. I slapped in the fodder as fast as I cud, 

 an' next time med a good shot. The b'ar wur stretched 

 out as- stiff as an ice-chisel, so I kem down an' riz his 

 ha'r. Ye-es, I guess b'ars hed better leave Jake Hawken 

 alone that they hed ! " 



This opinion was shared by both Pierre and Gaultier. 



